Holy hiatus, Batman! Three months after the last new episode aired, Gotham returns for the second half of the show’s second season on Monday, on CTV and Fox. It’s all part of the new network strategy of keeping viewers keen by splitting 22-episode orders into two uninterrupted runs.
The Batman prequel has had to air opposite Supergirl this season in a battle of the comic book time-slot titans.
To lure back the Bat-faithful, the series has embraced the dark side of the original DC Comics tales, with police detectives James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Harvey Bullock (Ottawa native Donal Logue) trying to protect wealthy orphan Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) from an ever-growing list of hoodlums in training. They include characters who will some day be known as the Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor), Catwoman (Camren Bicondova) and Mr. Freeze (Nathan Darrow).
One big-name cast addition this season has been Emmy-winner Michael Chiklis as police Capt. Nathaniel Barnes. In addition, the second half of the season will see the return of Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney, a ruthless antagonist who seemingly fell to her death last season.
Add another Canadian to the mix: Vancouverite Jessica Lucas as Tabitha Galavan, a sniper who’s part of a family vendetta against Gotham City’s ruling elite.
The character is said to have Olympic-level athletic skills, especially as a hunter, tracker and marksman.
Lucas says she came by these naturally, thanks to her sports-minded mom and dad. Growing up in Vancouver, they had her involved in soccer, track and softball.
“I was always on a baseball diamond or watching my dad play rugby,” she says.
The 30-year-old began acting at an early age. At 13, she got an agent and — on her third audition — landed a part on the YTV series 2030 CE.
“Tatiana Maslany from Orphan Black was on that show as well,” says Lucas, who recalls flying to Winnipeg during two summers to shoot the series.
“I loved the sense of responsibility. I loved getting to act. I had a job. I was making money — I fell in love with it and I didn’t look back.”
Her next series was Edgemont, a Vancouver teen drama where more future Canadian stars emerged, including Kristin Kreuk (Smallville, Beauty and the Beast) and Grace Park (Hawaii Five-0). Another Canadian, Missy Peregrym (Rookie Blue) joined her on the short-lived U.S. series Life as We Know It, which also featured Kelly Osbourne and Sean Faris.
Roles in 90210, the reboot of Melrose Place and Gracepoint followed. Why does she think so many young Canadians land jobs on American TV shows?
“I guess the American TV industry seems to like the outsiders,” she says, citing all the Brits, Aussies and New Zealanders — as well as the Canadians — she encounters on sets. She also feels Canadians bring “a sense of reality and a grounded-ness that comes through in our performances.”
That would seem to be an asset on Gotham, where reality and danger seem more present than in most comic-book fantasy shows.
“It’s a world so huge and larger than life and fantastical,” says Lucas.
She claims she “grew up on Batman and I’ve always been a huge fan, so it’s a dream come true.”
Lucas says when she was a child, her daycare used to play reruns from the original TV Batman series from the ’60s.
“I remember Batman from the ‘Pow,’ ” she says. She later enjoyed the Tim Burton movies and runs down the names of the actors who played Batman on screen. “I remember all of them.”
She was into the villains, too, especially Michelle Pfeiffer’s turn as Catwoman in 1992’s Batman Returns.
“She’s just the ultimate combination of sexy and badass.”
If Lucas could have one superpower, it would be flying — something that scares her in real life. That would seem to be kryptonite for a jet-setting actress, but not for Lucas.
“It’s like any other fear in life,” she says. “You have to do it and conquer your fear. I just pretend that I’m not afraid and do it anyway.”
Gotham airs tonight at 8 on CTV and Fox.
